the River, hired the first full-time Riverkeeper
in 1983 and began filing lawsuits against municipal
and industrial polluters. Theymodeled the program
after the riverkeepers of the British Isles who looked
after private trout and salmon streams, usually for
estates and manors and private fishing clubs. By 1998,
they had filed over 150 successful legal actions against
Hudson River polluters. Largely as a result of their
work, the river that was once dead for large stretches
in 1966 is now one of the richest water bodies in
the North Atlantic. The Hudson’s miraculous recovery
has helped make the Keeper program an international
model for ecosystem protection.
Since 1983, the Keeper movement has spread quickly.
With the assistance of the Alliance and other Keepers,
new programs were started on water bodies across North
and Central America modeled after the Hudson's program.
In 1992, the existing Keepers founded the National
Alliance of River, Sound and Bay Keepers which was
renamed Water Keeper
Alliance in 1999. The Alliance oversees the formation
of new Keeper programs, licenses the use of the Keeper
names, works on national issues that individual Keeper
programs hold in common and serves as a meeting place
for all the Keepers to exchange information, strategy
and know-how. The Alliance and its member Keepers
meet several times a year, alternating between the
home waters of individual members. In addition to
working with existing Keepers, the Alliance is also
currently working with local advocates to establish
Keeper programs in Belize, the Czech Republic, Italy,
Mexico, Poland, and the Philippines.
